PB Day Three - Grandma Olive Remembered

Let's get the Obligatory Peanut Butter Cookies out of the way...

Yeah, Amy...we have ALL had peanut butter cookies. What makes yours so freakin' special?

My peanut butter cookies remind me of these people:

That's my grandfather (Pap, as we called him), Grandma Olive, my cousin Jay, and me. Probably 1974 or so...I am rockin' one awesome romper. Grandma probably made it for me. Looking at this pic makes me want to go back blonde.

I remember making these with my grandma...helping stir, eating the dough when I thought she wasn't looking...They always remind me of her.

There are much better Peanut Butter cookie recipes out there. Much healthier. Fewer ingredients. But these are Grandma's. And it's a pretty easy one...

1 cup each white sugar, brown sugar, and lard.

Yep, underneath all that sugar is a big cup of lard:

You can certainly use shortening, or margarine, or butter. Don't fear the lard. It likes you. I like the lard.

Cream those together, then add 1 cup peanut butter and 1 tsp of vanilla.

Now we need 2 eggs...

If you stare at this picture long enough, it starts to look like an elephant's face...

Mix until fluffy

Add 3 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking soda:

My Kitchen Aid is the greatest, but it's so old it doesn't have "stir" anymore...it shoots straight to #3.

Just to keep ourselves kinda clean..

Mix just until combined:

Ugh, I could probably eat all of this...so let's hurry and bake it.

Cookie scoop: One of the greatest inventions of all time. I'm pretty destructive, and this is the only cookie scoop I cannot break. I have one in every size.

This is the medium scoop...

Put into your hand and roll into balls.

Roll the balls in sugar...

Because everything tastes better rolled in sugar!

Onto a cookie sheet...

That's a baking mat. I think I got it at that store that rhymes with TallMark for $5. I need a new one, don't I?

Criss cross tops with the tines of a fork.

I seriously learned that forks had "tines" at age 4 because I made these with Grandma.

All done?

Bake 375...I had two sheets in the oven and they took about 15 minutes..

But this, this is my favorite part:

When you open the oven door, the fresh-baked-peanut-butter-cookies-smell reaches out and just gives you a big hug.

Once again, give me a cold glass of milk and I could mow through these like Takeru Kobayashi on Nathan's Hot Dogs.

These are going to my step-son stationed in Camp Pendleton. Think he'll like them?

You go make some.

Peanut Butter Cookies

(From the recipe box of Mrs. Olive Wilson)

1 Cup Lard (or shortening, or margarine)

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Peanut Butter

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 375

Cream lard and both sugars. Add peanut butter and vanilla, stir to combine. Add eggs, mix until light and fluffy. Add flour and soda, mix until just combined.

Scoop out portions and roll into balls, then roll balls in sugar. Place on baking sheet, then form criss cross pattern using the tines of a fork.

Bake until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

Grandma left us in 1997, but I still remember her everytime I make these.